angular/angular-cli

ng serve / ng build does not work with windows junctions

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#32306 opened on Jan 15, 2026

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angular/build:applicationarea: @angular/buildhelp wantedneeds: investigation

Description

Command

build, serve

Is this a regression?

  • Yes, this behavior used to work in the previous version

The previous version in which this bug was not present was

No response

Description

When using the Angular Application Builder (@angular/build:browser) on Windows 11 (or Windows Server 2022), script tags are not injected into index.html if the project is accessed through a Windows junction.

This happens when preserveSymlinks: true is configured and occurs both during ng serve and ng build.

The same project works correctly when:

  • accessed via its real filesystem path (not through a junction), or
  • built using the legacy Webpack builder (@angular-devkit/build-angular:browser).

No errors or warnings are reported during the build or serve process.

This issue is the same as #27119 and is still reproducible with Angular 21.

Expected behavior

  • index.html should contain the injected script tags

Actual behavior

  • index.html is generated without any script tags
  • The page loads as a blank page
  • No CLI errors or warnings are shown
  • The build output otherwise appears successful

Minimal Reproduction

  1. Create a new Angular project: ng new junction-repro cd junction-repro

  2. Enable symlink preservation: add "preserveSymlinks": true in angular.json

  3. Create a Windows junction pointing to the project directory: mklink /J C:\temp\junction-repro C:\realpath\junction-repro

  4. Open the project via the junction path: cd C:\temp\junction-repro ng serve

  5. Open the application in the browser.

see also #27119 for a setup with Dev Drives

Exception or Error

There is no error shown.

Your Environment

Angular CLI       : 21.0.5
Angular           : 21.0.8
Node.js           : 24.11.0
Package Manager   : npm 11.6.1
Operating System  : win32 x64

┌───────────────────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┐
│ Package                   │ Installed Version │ Requested Version │
├───────────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ @angular/build            │ 21.0.5            │ ^21.0.5           │
│ @angular/cli              │ 21.0.5            │ ^21.0.5           │
│ @angular/common           │ 21.0.8            │ ^21.0.0           │
│ @angular/compiler         │ 21.0.8            │ ^21.0.0           │
│ @angular/compiler-cli     │ 21.0.8            │ ^21.0.0           │
│ @angular/core             │ 21.0.8            │ ^21.0.0           │
│ @angular/forms            │ 21.0.8            │ ^21.0.0           │
│ @angular/platform-browser │ 21.0.8            │ ^21.0.0           │
│ @angular/router           │ 21.0.8            │ ^21.0.0           │
│ rxjs                      │ 7.8.2             │ ~7.8.0            │
│ typescript                │ 5.9.3             │ ~5.9.2            │
│ vitest                    │ 4.0.17            │ ^4.0.8            │
└───────────────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┘

Anything else relevant?

The issue does not occur when:

  • running the same project from its real filesystem path
  • switching to the webpack builder: "builder": "@angular-devkit/build-angular:browser"

Contributor guide

Tech stack
typescriptnodejs
Domain
clibuild systemdeveloper experience
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Angular CLI basicsNode.js file systemWindows junctions
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
25
Research direction
Investigate how the @angular/build:browser builder injects script tags into index.html when preserveSymlinks is true. Focus on file path resolution in the build process, especially when the project is accessed via a Windows junction. Review the code that collects script entry points and generates the index.html file. Compare with the legacy webpack builder to identify differences in symlink handling. Check existing tests for symlink scenarios. See issue #27119 for similar context.